


The First Night of the Rest of their Lives

by Avionyx



Series: recovery and ever after [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Post Campaign 1, campaign 1 spoilers, mentions of the brairwoods, we'll be each other's glue, we'll fill in the gaps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27987762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avionyx/pseuds/Avionyx
Summary: Vecna is defeated, and Vex has asked him to spend the night in the woods with her. Percy would’ve moved heaven and earth in that moment for her, faced down dragons and demons all over again to ease her pain, so here they are, deep in the Parchwood with no one but the trees to overhear them.Directly post Vecna Percy and Vex talk about the past and the future*contains major spoilers for campaign 1*
Relationships: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia
Series: recovery and ever after [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977682
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	The First Night of the Rest of their Lives

Percy wraps his coat around Vex’s shoulders and turns his attention back to the small fire in the clearing. Vex was shaking, although whether from the cold or grief he couldn’t be certain. When she’d approached him in the castle, his heart melted at his wife’s simple request. He would’ve moved heaven and earth in that moment for her, faced down dragons and demons all over again to ease her pain. So here they are, deep in the Parchwood with no one but the trees to overhear them. He must admit, while he isn’t quite as at home in the woods as Vex is, there’s something peaceful about it. After the barrage that was the last few days and weeks the quiet and peace of the woods is a welcome change. 

Once the fire reaches an acceptable level, he returns his attention fully to Vex. Quiet tears are running down her face, and it was clear she’d been trying not to cry and failed. Her eyes, which are usually a warm honey brown, are slightly glazed over, staring off into some unseen middle distance. Neither says anything, neither of them has to. Percy takes her in his lap, cupping her face in his hands and kissing every tear that dared to streak down her face. Eventually, he also begins to cry. Quiet tears roll down his cheeks and he ignores them. As emotionally draining as the Conclave had been, somehow, Vecna squeezed that much pain and worry into merely a few days. Not to mention what defeating Vecna had cost them...

He and Vax had just started to mend their relationship, and he could feel his brother by marriage’s loss just as strongly as his brothers by blood. This was all his fault, he got excited in that stupid tomb and brought this upon all of them. It should’ve been him. He should’ve done something, made another deal, traded his soul yet again for Vax’s life. Percy shakes his head, desperate to clear the thoughts. This isn’t productive. As much the grief and guilt in his chest were begging to be addressed, fully, and at last, he pushed it down just a bit longer and turned his full attention to his wife. 

Pelor’s light, does he love his wife. 

As soon as they left the castle, her mask fell. She’d fallen into him and even as exhausted as he was, he half carried her through the trails, through her trails in her Parchwood. He’d quietly handed her a flask of the Green Tier whiskey she likes so much and didn’t comment on how quickly she emptied it. Vex is the strongest person he knows, or at least the one with the most fortitude. She’s survived everything, even death, but he knows better than most how hard the loss of family can hit. The ache in his chest, the hole left by Vax throbs but at this moment he has to be there for her. 

He doesn’t know what he would’ve done if she’d fallen. No one would have been able to pull him out of that spiral. He would’ve definitely been doing something much more drastic and stupid than what Keyleth is doing. She was always stronger than he was... But Vex is here. She’s here; solid and breathing in his lap. He kisses her cheeks, her forehead, her neck, any skin he could possibly reach. He can’t take his hands off her. Not in the usual way that he struggles to keep his hands off her, this has nothing to do with lust. He knows if he can’t feel her, feel for sure that she is alive, there’s no way he could be certain that Vecna didn’t take her too. 

“Percy?” There’s an unmistakable tremor in her voice that sends a chill down his spine. Vex, brave, brash, and bold, suddenly looks small. He hates to see her look small. 

“Yes, dear?”

“Tell me about your family.” Well, that was unexpected. The grief swelled in his chest again, and more tears broke through the barrier. He would’ve been content to shove those feelings down. But he can’t say no to her. Especially not now as she tries to stop crying in his lap. So he talks, his voice low so that even the trees struggle to hear so that his words are only for her. 

“I am...was...the third child. Julius, the eldest, was set to take over the duties of Lord, and if you ever thought I was pompous he was easily 10 times more so, he always was too charismatic for his own good. Being the oldest son will do that. He was quite the playboy, always a gentleman when it counted, but also always hiding various late-night escapades. Underneath all of that, he was good-hearted and did get into a fight with a visiting Lord’s son when the visiting Lordling said something vile about my sister, so he wasn’t a completely lost cause.

“My older sister, Vesper, was my best friend. She was only a year older than I, and we were practically inseparable. The only reason I know Celestial is because Vesper was wanting to learn it but couldn’t manage to do it alone. We were obnoxious, I’m sure. She was one of the only ones who could pull me out of my workshop. She used to try to take in all the barn cats and kittens from the stables on particularly cold nights and hide them in her room without my parents or the servants finding out. Oh at that same Lordling that Julius got into a fight with left with half his hair shaved and the other half turned green from Vesper’s doing. You two would’ve gotten along like a house on fire, and I’m not sure myself nor the castle would survive the power of both of you.” He thought he heard Vex almost laugh. She settles comfortably against his chest and leans her head down so it rests on his shoulder. Percy can’t help but wrap his arms around her, his fingers tracing designs absentmindedly against her skin. 

“After me were the twins; Oliver and Whitney. They were a force to be reconded with. I’m fairly certain they skipped more lessons than they attended, and they used to cause all kinds of trouble around the castle. Mother used to say they kept the rest of us in check. Once Julius tried to sneak out of the castle to meet up with some girl in town and the twins locked him out and somehow made it so our parents had to open to door to let him in. The worst thing about it was poor Julius was covered in lipstick and hickeys. Oliver was the brains of their little operation and Whitney executed everything. Now that I’m thinking about it they would’ve loved you as well.” Percy tightened his arms around her, taking comfort in the feeling of her body close to his. More tears were falling down his face now, and he could taste the salty water on his lips. “The Briarwoods were so cruel to them…”

“How old were they?” He suspects that she is attempting to distract herself, let herself think about anything but the loss of her brother, and of course he understands. The least he can do is indulge her in her unspoken request. So he keeps talking, he’ll talk for as long as she wants, he’ll talk about all the things he’s held close to his chest for those long six years. 

“15. Just turned 15 at that...they were chained to opposite sides of a room and they had to watch each other succumb to their wounds...” The weight of a dragon rested on Percy’s chest. Sometimes he forgets how young his siblings were, how young he was. When he described the Briarwoods attack he didn’t mention that he wasn’t even an adult yet when everything had happened, he’d barely left the castle grounds let alone Whitestone. By all practical measures he was still a child; overly concerned about what his handsome Elvish tutor thought of him, whether Vesper would get the better dessert that evening, or if the small wind-up toys he made for Ludwig and Cass would work this time. Those concerns seemed so small now. 

“Gods…” 

“Next in the line was Ludwig. He was quiet and preferred to keep to the gardens, probably to avoid all the pranks, caused by my siblings, and the explosions, mostly caused by me. He would read and write poems to read to my father’s hunting dogs. Mother always called him a “sensitive boy”. Father took him hunting once and he cried so hard when my father killed a stag he was banned from any more hunting trips, plus he refused to eat meat after that. Caused quite a stir at dinners.” Percy chuckles. “I think he was mother’s favorite.”

“Not you?” Vex smiles, it doesn’t quite reach her eyes, but she smiles nevertheless. 

“Gods no. I was much too destructive for my mother’s liking. Plus she didn’t like it when I would cause fires in the castle, or show up to dinner covered in soot, or give the twins ideas… Ludwig would go for walks in the garden with her and they would read poetry and feed the ducks in the duck pond. She tried to save him...she jumped in front of a dagger that was headed straight for him… of course, that just made him a target in their eyes. Luckily his death was quick.” 

“Percy…”

“And Cass is...was? Is. Is the youngest. You know her of course. Before everything, she took after the twins, used to follow Whitney around up until the twins got busted when she would mysteriously disappear. Cass knows this castle better than anyone...it saved her life. She hid from the worst parts of the initial attack.” 

“You’ve never talked about the Brairwoods in this much detail…” Tears are welling up in her eyes. He’s an idiot. Maybe not the best time to be talking of murdered siblings, why couldn’t he have stuck to the lighthearted stories. He writes a mental note to kick himself later. 

“Oh darling, I’m so sorry, I’m an idiot” She shakes as he pulls her even closer to him, planting soft kisses along her hairline. “I’ll stop with the gory details.”

“No Percy it’s a good thing, I think. You shouldn’t have to hold all that in. Not anymore. I do want to hear it, I want to know about your family.”

“Another time, a better time. I do miss them, and I do want to talk about them. I can’t believe I never realized that I miss them. I liked being in such a big family. Maybe not all the time, and definitely not when my siblings would mess with my projects, but in general. We were close.”

They sit in comfortable silence for a while after that. Vex still cries softly, and Percy holds her. 

“Percy, do you want a large family again?” He almost doesn’t hear her question, as it’s softly murmured into his shoulder.

“I would like to have children, definitely more than one. I never really had time to think if I wanted a large family, but I must admit it sounds appealing. This castle would be awfully lonely without siblings, and awfully quiet without children. I’ll yield to you of course my dear, considering you’ll be the one being pregnant and all.” 

“I think four or five.”

“I think four or five sounds perfect.” He kisses her temple softly. 

“Oh, gods they’ll all have such long names.” Her exasperated tone made him laugh. She joined him, softly wiping tears from her eyes. “How did your parents think of so many names?”

“Oh, most are old family names I suppose. For example, Percival was my great grandfather’s name, he was Lord of Whitestone during a particularly terrible famine and he made sure the city and its people survived. He is still quite beloved, I think there’s a statue of him somewhere. We don’t have to follow that tradition, of course, I can now see the impracticality of long names.” 

“Well, they’ll at least be one long name.” Percy looks at her questioningly, and she drops his gaze. “Well, Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo IV.” His questioning expression quickly shifted to one of shock. Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo IV. Logically Percy knows that a Percival IV was highly likely if he ever had children, but it doesn’t negate the feeling of being hit over the head by Grog with the name being said aloud. He remembers what he said to Keyleth, I live as long as Whitestone lives, he would live on, Whitestone would live on. Vex, as wonderfully perceptive as she is, picks up on the shift in his mood. “Is that alright?”

“Yes, Gods yes. I-” He cups her face again and draws her into a kiss. 

The rest of the night is spent equally between hushed conversations, comfortable silence, and grief. There are peaceful moments and considerably less peaceful moments, and they take each in stride. There is no rush, nowhere to be, no one else they must be presentable for. So much of their relationship was formed in rushed moments, fearing what dangers could be lurking behind the next turn. But now, really for the first time, they have time. Time to grieve, time to process, and time to enjoy the simple pleasures of each other’s company.

**Author's Note:**

> Short and sweet (?) 
> 
> there's no way that either of them were fine in the Parchwood that night and I love nothing more than some classic Perc'ahlia hurt/comfort 
> 
> ALSO y'all can pry 'the de Rolo siblings loved each other and we friends actually' out of my cold dead hands, it's the truth and I will say it. 
> 
> As always kudos & comments are greatly appreciated


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